Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-02-22 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

The Washington region is preparing for a potentially long-lasting ice storm that could wreak more havoc than one last week that kept many commuters stuck in traffic for five hours or longer.

The Virginia Department of Transportation planned to deploy 1,152 of its 1,200 trucks in Northern Virginia two hours before a weather advisory went into effect Thursday night. That’s more than four times the 278 trucks deployed before icy roads and accidents made critical commuter arteries impassable Feb. 12.

“We’re treating it like a major event, and we’ve got all kinds of trucks and all kinds of resources geared up and ready to go,” agency spokesman Mike Salmon said.

Forecasts predicted snow and sleet to begin falling in the region after 9 p.m. Thursday, switching to freezing rain about 3 a.m. today with the potential for light freezing rain much of today.

“We certainly have the potential for icing that would cause problems in the metro area,” said Chris Strong, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Icing is icing. It doesn’t have to be a lot to cause a lot of problems.”

The D.C. Department of Transportation is preparing for 18 consecutive hours of road treatment with a larger-than-typical deployment of salt trucks.

“We recognize that this will call for additional measures above and beyond what we usually do,” agency spokeswoman Karyn Le Blanc said. “When we’ve opted not to do the full deployment, it hasn’t worked out well.”

Metro said it is planning to use its de-icing trains and will use heater tape to keep ice and snow off the third rails that provide electricity to power the trains.

Agencies were caught off guard last week because temperatures were expected to be above freezing during the commuting hours, said Chuck Gishlar, a spokesman with the Maryland Highway Administration. As this storm is expected to be worse, salt and sand truck drivers and transportation officials are ready, he said.

“Motorists can see [Friday] morning could very well be an ugly commute.”

After a slew of accidents on frozen ramps in the Feb. 12 storm, Virginia has deployed a new Springfield response team, including 15 salt trucks and four magnesium chloride tanker trucks, to try to prevent ice accumulation on the 50 bridges at the Mixing Bowl.

VDOT is also prepared to sand hills, curves and trouble spots in subdivisions if necessary.

But Salmon warned, “Ice is dangerous. Motorists should keep their speeds down and maybe work from home.”

Storm response

» Virginia Department of Transportation planned to roll out 1,152 of the 1,200 trucks available

» D.C. Department of Transportation prepared for 18 hours of full-scale operations

» Springfield Mixing Bowl: 15 salt trucks, plus four magnesium chloride tankers coating the many ramps and overpasses

dgenz@dcexaminer.com